BALTIMORE -- The American League wild-card race is set up for chaos.

With Tampa Bay losing and both Texas and Cleveland winning their games on Saturday, the possibility remains that all three teams could finish with the same record after 162 games, tying for the two wild-card playoff spots. That would set in motion a complicated scenario that could force whoever plays the Red Sox to play as many as four games in as many as five different cities in a six-day span.

If Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Texas all finish with the same record, the Indians would host Tampa Bay in a one-game playoff on Monday. The winner of that game would win one of the wild-card berths. The loser of that game would travel to play Texas on Tuesday in another one-game playoff, and the winner of that game would win the other wild-card berth.

The two wild-card teams then would play Wednesday at the home of whichever team won the regular-season series between them -- and the winner of that team would play the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Friday in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

Just as one example: If Tampa Bay loses to Cleveland on Monday and then beats Texas on Tuesday, the Rays could go from playing at Toronto on Sunday to Cleveland on Monday to Texas on Tuesday back to Tampa Bay on Wednesday -- the Rays won four of their six games against the Indians this season -- and then to Boston on Thursday for a workout before Friday's Game 1.

On the other hand, if only two of those three teams end up with the same record after Sunday's games, one game ahead of the third team, they'll simply play the wild-card game on Wednesday -- the host will be the team that has won the regular-season series between the two teams -- and the winner of that game will travel to Boston for the ALDS.

Suffice to say, the Red Sox wouldn't mind seeing their first-round opponent have to fly all over the country and burn through much of their pitching staff before they ever get to Boston.

"From a pitching usage standpoint, going up against potential teams, the more they play the more they've got to use their guys and maybe the less rest they're afforded might have some effect," Boston manager John Farrell said. "Who knows? It's exciting for the game, for sure."